Snowplow



June 23, 1953 G. E. CURTIS ETAL 2,642,680

SNOWPLOW Filed Dec. 50, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS GORDON E.CURTIS WALTER A.OBERBECK ATTORNEYS June 23, 1953 a s. cuR'rls ETAL SNOWPLOW :3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed DeG. 30, 1946 .INVENTORS GORDON E.CURTIS V WALTER A.OBERBECK ATTORNEYS June 23, 1953 G. E. CURTIS ET AL SNOWPLOW a Sheets-Shee t 5 Filed Dec. 30, 1946 INVENTORS GORDON E. CURTIS WALTER A.OBERBECK ATTORNEYS Patented June 23, i953 SNOWPLOW Gordon E. Curtis, Oshkosh, and Walter A. Oberbeck, Fond du Lac, Wis.

ApplicationDecember 30, 1946, Serial No. 719,224

1 Claim. (01. 3743) Our invention refers to snow collecting and removing plows and has for its primary object to provide a driven reel, having a master dividing disc and companion end discs, the same bein connected by oppositely directed spiral blades, housed in a hooded funnel, whereby snow-is split into sections and collected in bulk units, prior to discharging the same from a funnel, due to an air blast developed by the reel spiral blades, which blades act as blowers or fans and also'as snow collector units, the funnel being adjustable to selectively discharge the snow to either side of the road or into a receiver truck.

A further object of our invention is to provide the spiral blades, tapered or narrowed at their leading ends and materially wider faced at their following ends, whereby power is balanced and the volume of displaced snow is broken up and collected in pockets, at the master disc faces, by the wide ends of the blades which wide ends serve as shovels in connection with the divided disc and also as a blower whereby a maximum blast is developed to discharge the snow bulks through the funnel.

A further object of our invention is to provide an open mouthed hood with one or more snow collecting reels, depending upon the depth of the snow.

A further object of our invention is to provide a hand propelled snow plow, or a power propelled snow plow in conjunction with a truck or tractor.

A still further object of our invention is to provide a funnel in conjunction with the snow plow hood, which is adjustable, to discharge snow to either side of a road or to a truck.

With the above and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of par-ts, substantially as hereinafter described, and more particularly defined by the appended claims, it being understood that such changes in the precise embodiment of the herein disclosed invention may be made as come within the scope of the claim.

In the accompanying drawings is illustrated? one complete example of the physical embodiment of the present invention constructed ac-.

cording to the best mode so far devised for the practical application of the principles thereof. In the drawings: Figure 1 representsa side elevation of a manually propelled snow plow embodying the-features of our invention, the same being partly in section as .indicatedlby line .-l-] of Figure 2.1

Figure 2 is a front elevation'of the same parts broken away and in section to more clearly illustrate structural features.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the snow plow with parts broken away and in section as indicated by line 33 of Figure 1. 1

Figure 4 is a side elevation of a modified form of our invention associated with a .front end of a,

truck or tractor, the same being in section as indicated by line 4-4 of Figure 5 Figure 5 is a front elevational view of the modi- I fied form of our invention.

Figure 6 is a detailed view of a modified form of a reel having spiraled blades with straight following end sections associated witha masterblock.

Referring by characters to the drawings, l-'l indicates handles connected by a cross bar 1' and a table 2, which table is supported by angle iron struts'2', the structure forming a skeleton frame.

The lower ends of the frame handles have -:se-'

cured thereto plates 3-3 carrying bearings 3 for a reel shaft 4. r

The plates'r have secured thereto theside wallsi of an open mouthed hood 6. The lower concavo-convexed edge mouth of the'hood 6 constitute a drum section, which forms a scraper for collecting snow.

The curved scraper end of the hood is concentric with the shaft 4., and secured to saidshaft' adjacent to side walls 5 is a pair of'end discs, 1-4 which discs are associated with a centrally positioned master disc 8 also securedto the shaft. Each end disc I has securedthereto, by angle brackets, the leading ends of spiral blades 9-9 having their follower ends, connected by anglebrackets to the master disc 8, it being understood that the leading ends are preferably narrower'in width than the follower ends 9' of said blades,"

of a pulley and belt connection In between the reel shaft 4 and motorv shaft 4", the motor I I being mounted upon the table 2 ofthe frame- The hood. 5 has secured to its upper end, a roof 5, which roof is tapered inwardly and terminates with a'circular discharge flanged nozzle 5",

The nozzle 5". has rotatably mounted. thereon I a curved conveyor pipe 12 carrying a sheave lif;

vradially adjusted, if desired, to lengthen the funnel and when so adjusted, it is frictionally held in its position by a set screw I3" in threaded union with a strap [3, as best indicated in Figure 2 of the drawings.

Pivotally mounted to the end of'the shell I3 is a deflector cap I 4, which cap is held in its normal deflecting position by a coil spring Hi that is connected to the shell and a lip I4" carried at the base of the cap.

It is apparent that the snow collectedby the spirally bladed reel will be discharged through the mouth of the funnel and its angle of.dis-.;

charge is determined by the position of the'de-' flector cap [4, which cap, as indicated in dotted lines of Figure 2, may be swung downwardly to vary the direction of discharge of the snow to one side of the road. 7

The angular adjustment of the deflector shell is controlled by a flexible cable or runner I5, which runner is connected to an car at the end ofthe cap and is threaded through an eye [5 carried by the shell 23 adjacent tothe lower end.:

The end of the line or runner is then temporarily secured to an eyed ear It attached to the upper end of one of the handles l of the'frame. By this connection the cap l4 maybe manually adjusted and'secured at any predetermined angle.

When it is desired to bodily adjust the curved funnel from right to left, it may be manually rotated to an endless runner I? which is also trained about a grooved wheel l8 .rotatably mounted upon a bracket l8, which bracket is secured to the cross bar I of the frame, it being.

held in its adjustedposition by friction.

The machine is mounted upon wheels l9, fixed on a shaft [9, which shaft is journaled atthe rear ends of the plates 3.

While the machine is adapted to be manually moved towards the snow field, it is understood, in some instances, we may provide a back gear drive connection between the wheel shaft 19 and the. motor II, one gear'connection, being obvious, is:

not shown.

' Owing to the fact that the spiral blade carrying reel will not only break up and collect the snow but also serve as a blower orfan, whereby a strong air current is developed to discharge the volume of snow collected through the funnel arrangement entirely clear of the cleaned road.

As illustrated in Figure 6 of the drawings, in some cases we may employ spiral blades having wide follower straight faces 9", in parallel relation with the reel axis, the said follower faces being suitably connected to the master dividing disc 8, the flat blades may be used without departing from the spirit of our invention;

Figures 4 and 5 of the drawings illustrate another form of our invention designed for heavy duty in abnormal depth of snow.

In this exemplification of our invention the open mouth hood 6 is of greater height than that previously described and it is provided witha pair of reels, the shafts 4 of which are approximately in vertical alignment and journaled in the side walls of the hood. These superimposed reels comprise three master discs '8' in conjunction with the end discs 1, whereby a wider cut for the snow plow is developed. It is understood that the multiple series of blades and discs may be varied indefinitely without departing from the spirit of our invention. In this heavy duty snow plow, the hood of the same may be suitably connected to the front portion of a truck or tractor A, as indicated in Figure 4 of the drawings. The power for driving the pair of reels may be taken off from the truck by a driving chain 20, as indicated in dotted lines of Figure 4. The chain, in this instance, is meshed with a sprocket wheel 20. carried by the lowerj reel shaftf'li and the upper reel shaft is-geared by means of a sprocket wheel and driving chain connection 2| connecting the said reel shafts. Obviously, any other driving power means may be employed and the snow plow, in some instances, may be suitably secured to the truck A by any vertical adjustable means, notshown, without departing from the spirit. of our invention. machine, the upperreel has fitted to its rear lower'duarter section, a concavo-convexed drum section 22, which drum section is spaced a sufficient distance from the rear wall of the hoodfi to provide a dischargethroatZS .for receiving a snowjblast from the lower reel, it being understood that this .blast co-mingles with a corresponding-blast from the upper reel, as indicated by the arrows in Figure 40f the drawings, wherebythe depth-of snow between the said reels isv entirely collected and discharged into the funnel through the cap 5, as shown. r

We claim: Ina snow plow of the type including a frame having a pair of spaced handles and ground engaging wheels a transversely extending hood rigidly secured to the forward end of said, frame,

said hood havingan open front snow receiving mouth, a driven rotary snow cutter mounted inthe hood and partially projecting throughthe mouth thereof, a'curved conveyor pipe rotatably mountedon the upperend of the hood, a curved shell slidably received on the conveyor pipe, means including set screws carried by the shell for .-adjustably securing the shell to the pipe, a deflectorcap pivotedly secured to the outer end of the curved shell, a spring-having one end secured tothe shell and its opposite end secured to .the deflectorcapadjacent its pivoted end to normally resiliently hold the deflector cap inits extreme upper position, adjusting means for pivoting said deflector cap downwardly against spring tension and holding said cap in an ad-.

justed-position and. adjusting means including an endless runner trained over the'base of said curved shell'for radially rotating the shelland pipe to any desired position, whereby the conveyor pipe may be adjusted to any position in the 360 of the described circle for directing. the snow radially therefrom, the length of the conveyor pipe maybe extended or shortened and theangle of deflection varied as desired.

- GORDON ET. CURTIS;

WALTER A. OBERBECK.

References Cited inthej file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Date In this double reel 

